Refrigeration apparatus



chamber Patented Apr. 14, 1942 2,279,804 ,'BEFRIGERATION APPARATUS JohnG. Walz, Holyoke, Mass.,

assigner to Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company,

a corporation of Pennsylvy East Pittsburgh, Pa'.,

vania Application Api-i1 15, 1939, serial No. 267,983

(ci. cia-104)l 9 Claims.

This invention relates to refrigerating apparatus, and more particularlyto apparatus adapted to cool articles which are to be dispensed 4atfrequent intervals.

One object of the invention is to provide a refrigerator in which thearticles to be cooled are progressively carried'therethrcugh. I

Another objectl of the invention is to provide a refrigerator forcooling articles by passinga chilled current of air containing a chilledspray of liquid over the articles.

.A further object is to provide a refrigerator for spraying the articlesto be refrigerated with a chilled liquid and thereafter evaporate theliquid from the articles to cool thesame.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved bottledbeverage cooler and particularly to provide for adequate cooling attimes of heavy load with a refrigerating-mechanism that is of suicientcapacity to handle only average loads.

These and other objects are'effected by my invention as will be apparentfrom the following description and claims taken in connection with theaccompanying drawing, forming a part of this application, in which: A

Fig. lis a vertical section'of the apparatus of this invention taken onthe line I-TI of Fig. 2; and,

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section of the apparatus taken on the line II'-IIof Fig. 1.

Referring specificallyto the drawing for a detailed description of theinvention, the reference numeral I represents a circular cabinet havinga horizontal partition'II therein to divide the cabinet into an upperstorage chamber I2 anda lower machine compartment I3. The storage I2 islined with insulating material I4 and provided with an inner metalliclining I5.

The side of the chamber I2 is provided with an entrance opening I6 and adoor I1 therefor adapted to spring horizontally on hinges I8.

A cooling unit I9 is provided in the upper portion of the insulatedchamber I2 and comprises a spirally wound tube 2| and radial iins 22 onsaid tube 2|. The upper edges of the fins 22 are welded or otherwisesecured to the upper wall of the inner liner and the fins 22 support thetube 2|. The cooling unit I9 is preferably of the evaporativetype and issupplied with liquid refrigerant through the capillary tube 23 from therefrigerant condensing machinery located in the lower compartment I Therefrigerant condensing machinery comprises a condenser 25 and a motordriven re- "frigerant pump (not shown) in a sealed casing 26. Therefrigerant pump withdraws the evaporated refrigerant from the coolingunit I9 through a suction tube 21, compresses it, and conducts thecompressed refrigerant through the tube 28 to the condenser 25. A fan 29driven by a motor 3| circulates' air through the condenser 25 and passesit over the sealed casing 26 to cool the same. refrigerator may beregulated by a control 39 actuated by the temperature of the tube 2|, asis well known in the art.

A vertical shaft 32 in the center of the cabinet is journaled in anupper bearing 33 and a lower bearing 34. The lower bearing 34 extendsrthrough the bottom wall II of the refrigerated chamber i2 to a motor 35secured to the lower surface of this wall, which motor drives the shaft32. A centrifugal fan 36 is secured on the shaft 32 below the coolingunit I9 and a conical shroud 31 is-positioned below the cooling unit I9and above the fan 36 to guide the air cir` culated by the fan 36 throughthe cooling unit I9. The shroud 31 is welded or otherwise secured to thelower edges of the fins 22 and drains the condensate dripping from thecooling unit I9 onto the fan 36, which sprays the condensate through thestorage chamber I2. An outer rim portion 38 Yof the shroud 31 is carrieddownwardly and is spaced from the side walls of the chamber andterminates at a distance above the bottom wall of the .chamber toprovide an air circulating path which commences at the fan 36, passesradially outward through the storage chamber I2, downwardlyy beneath theouterA edges of the shroud 37., then upwardly through the space between`the outer rim portion 38 of the shroud 31 and the side wall of thechamber I2 and then y through the'cooling unit I9 to the fan 36. The

rim portion has an opening 4I adjacent the door opening I6.

` The refrigerator. as thus far described, operchamber I 2.

ates as follows: As air in the storage chamber I2 is drawn through thecooling unit I9, some of -the air is ordinarily chilled below its dewpoint and moisture is condensed on the.cooling unit. The moisturecondensed will drip from the cooling unit I9 and run down the conicalportion of the shroud 31 to the fan 36, which sprays it over the bottles39 or other articles stored in the The bottles 39 will normally be at ahigher temperature than either the air or the water, ,so that themoisture adhering to the bottles 39 will be warmed and will then againevaporate in thestream of air and be redeposited The temperature of thel the entire platform an ice booster effect pose. During peak Aice waterwill be sprayed on departing from the 2- y on the cooling unit I9.. Thebottles Il in the chamber l2 are therefore cooled in three distinctways.' first, by the cold -air blown over them, secondly, by the coldwater sprayed over them, and thirdly, by theevaporation of the water onthe bottles. This vmaterially reduces the time of cooling warm bottlesover that of a cooler wherein cold air alone is circulated.

The orderly cooling of the articles in the-storage chamber isfacilitated by a rotatable plat form 42 adjacent the bottom of thechamber I2 which platform 42 is secured at its center to a ring-shapedbearing 43 Journaled on a'proiecting portion of the bearing 34 so thatthe plat-- form 42 rotates thereupon. The platform 42 is furthersupported at its edges by rollers 44 afnxed to the bottom of the chamberl2. The outer edge 45 of the rotating platform 421s beaded upwardly todefine a shallow storage basin '46 for water which may drip from thebottles 2S.

the opening i6 and placed on the adjacent por- A42. The platform 421sand additional bottles 39 procedure repeated until 42 is loaded withbottles. When the refrigerated bottles 39 are to be dispensed, they arewithdrawn through the opening I6, warm bottles put in their placevandthe platform 42 rotated slightly to bring a new sup' ply of cold bottlesadjacent the opening It for the next dispensation.

may be operated to provide during peak loads of short duration. Tosecure this effect, the control 2li is set to operate the cooling unitI9 at a temperature. low enough to freeze the condensate on the coolingunit Y I9 into ice during light and normal loads. The water in'thestorage basin 46 will provide sumcient water vapor for 4this purloads,such` as when large bottles are inserted in the the temperature of tionof the platform then rotated slightly are inserted and tV Therefrigerator numbers of warm storage chamber at one time,

thereupon,

'which are affected bythe water, such as fresh art or as arespecifically set forth in the appended The refrigerator is adapted tocool articles not affected by the water sprayed such as bottles, as wellas articles fruits and-vegetables.

'What I claim is:

1. In a refrigerator, the combination of an insulated chamber providinga storage space for the chamber I2"will rise, some or all of the ice onthe cooling unit I! will melt and the melted the bottles' 38. Some ofthis water will again be reevaporated, as previously drain into thestorage basin 46.

It will be apparent from the above that this invention provides arefrigerator for coolingarticles progressively.v The apparatusis furtheradapted to chill articles rapidly by means of the combined action of achilled current of air,

of a chilled spray of water, and by the evaporation of the water sprayedthereon. 4 It is also adapted to provide auxiliary refrigeration duringpeak loads by the melting of ice formed during less than peak loads.

While I have shown my invention in but one form, it will be obvious tothose skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptibleof varioustchanges and modifications lwithout spirit thereof, and Idesire, such limitations shall be imposed by the prior therefore, thatonly placed thereupon as are described, and the remainder willV 'thearticles to be refrigerated, a cooling unit in said chamber, and a motordriven fan forcirculating the air oi' said chamber through said coolingunit and over said articles, said fan also being adapted to spraymoisture condensing on v said cooling unit over said articles.

2. In a refrigerator, the combination of an insulated chamber providinga storage space fox` the articles to b'e refrigerated, a cooling unit insaid chamber, a motor driven fan at i sulated chamber providing astorage space for articles to be refrigerated, a cooling unit in saidchamber, a motor-driven fan at a level below said cooling unit, a shroudfor conducting the condensate formed on the cooling unit to the fan. anda water storage vpan in said chamber, said fan being arranged tocirculate the air in said chamber through the cooling unit and over thearticles to be refrigerated and to spray the moisture conducted to it bythe shroud over such articles, said pan being in position to collect theexcess moisture.

4. In a refrigerator, the combination of an insulated chamber providinga storage space for l articles Yto bey refrigerated, a cooling unit insaid chamber adapted to condense moisture from the air in said chamber,to freeze said moisture during light .and normal loads and to permitsaid frozen moisture to melt during heavy loads, a motor-drivenfan at alevel below said'cooling unit,'a shroud for conducting moisture dripping-from the cooling unit to the fan, and a water storage pan in saidchamber, said fan being arranged to. circulate the air -in said chamberthrough the 4cooling unit and over the articles to be refrigerated andto spray the moisture conducted to it by the shroud over such articles,said pan being in 'position to collect the excess moisture.

5. In a refrigerator, the combination of an insulated chamber providinga storage space for the articles refrigerated, a cooling unit in the topof said chamber, a centrifugal fan revolving on a substantially verticalaxis and located below said cooling uni* and substantially centrally insaid chamber, a motor for driving said fan,

and a. shroud -for guiding air and condensate from said cooling unit tosaid fan, said fan being arranged to blow said air and condensatesubstantially radially through said chamber and across the articlesstored therein, the condensate on the articles evaporating in said airto additionally cool said articles.

6. In a refrigerator, the combination of a circular insulated chamberproviding a storage space for the articles to be refrigerated, a coolingunit in the upper portion of said chamber, a fan below said coolingunit, a shroud for cona levelv below said cooling unit, and a shroud forcon-l ducting the condensate of-said cooling unit to said fan, arotatable platform in said chamber for supporting the articles to berefrigerated, an access opening in the side wall of said chain` ber, anda door for said opening, said rotatable platform being arranged -toconvey articles stored thereon adjacent said access opening, said fanbeing arranged te circulate the air of said chi ber through the coolingunit and'across the articles to be refrigerated and to spray thecondensate of said cooling unit over said articles.

7. in refrigerating apparatus, the combination of a cabinet including astorage chamber adapted to contain articles 'to be cooled, means foraffording access to the interior of said chamber from the outsidethereof, mechanism including a cooling element in said chamber forabstracting heat from air circulating therein, a device for controllingthe operation of said mechanism, and means for forcibly circulating theair in said chamber over the cooling unit and said articles, the settingof said dev'ice being so correlated with the capacity of the coolingunit that the normal operation thereof will cause water vapor in the aircirculated in said cabinet to freeze on the cooling element duringlight-A vload periods and melt during heavy-load periods and means fordirecting the meltage from said cooling element into the air of saidcabinet before the forcible circulation of the mixture of the air andmeltage over said articles occurs.

8. In refrigerating apparatus, the combination of a cabinet including astorage chamber adapt-v ed .to contain articles to be cooled, vmeans forlated with the capacity of the cooling unit that 'the normal operationthereof will cause water 'vapor 'in the air circulated in said cabinetto ireeze on the cooling element during iight-load periode and meltduring heavy-load periods and means iordirecting the meltage from saidcooling element into the air stream flowing over said articles 9. Inrefrigerating apparatus, the combination of a cabinet including astorage chamber adapted to contain articles to be cooled, means foraffording access to the interior of said chamber from the outsidethereof, mechanism' including a cooling element in. said chamber forabstracting heat from air circulating therein, a device for controllingthe operation of said mechanism,

the setting of said device being* so correlated with the capacity of thecooling unit that the` normal operation thereof will cause water Vaporin the air circulated in said cabinet to freeze on the cooling elementduring lightload periods and melt during heavy-load periods and meansfor forcibly circulating air over the cooling unit and said articles andfor directing the meltage from said. cooling element over said articles.

JOHN G. WALZ.

